Published May 10, 2012 at 1:17 PM | Updated at 8:12 PM PDT on May 10, 2012

Receive the latest movies updates in your inbox

Hollywood's big guns were out in full force Thursday night for the L.A. premiere of the blockbuster sci-fi naval-combat action flick "Battleship."

Director Peter Berg ("Friday Night Lights," "Hancock") made a spectacular entrance, rolling down the red carpet (which happened to be blue) in a spikey-wheeled sci-fi vehicle.

"Obama was in town tonight, so I heard traffic would be a bit messed up," he joked after stepping out of the "shredder"—a representation of one of the weapons in the movie.

Brooklyn Decker, Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard and Liam Neeson also walked the carpet, stopping to sign autographs, give interviews and mingle with some of the military guests who were on scene.

Fans were forced to wait to the very end, however, to get a glimpse of Rihanna, the most eagerly-awaited celebrity of the evening.

She had earlier Tweeted a photo of herself hooked up to an intravenous drip, stirring up rumors that she might be too ill to attend.

When she finally arrived—fashionably late in a plunging white dress—she was greeted by chants of her name. As she stopped for an interview, she readjusted the dangerously little amount of fabric covering her and said, "It's a little windy today. I've got to hold on."

She explained that she had been sick with the flu, but is "a lot better now" after taking a few days off to rest.

Her mother, father, two brothers and friends had come along to support the singer in her first major movie role (playing a weapons specialist).

"I didn't know if I'd be any good or if I would like it," she said about her first try at acting. "But it has been really tremendous.

"Battleship," which has the U.S. Navy fending off alien invaders in a $211 million, special-effects-filled production, hits theaters nationwide May 18.